BLOG: Christmas Weekend Weather+Long Range Look

Happy Saturday! It’s the Saturday before Christmas which means the malls will be packed, Rt 224 will be the 9th Circle of Hell and egg nog will taste extra good by the end of the day. It’s going to a busy and impactful weekend weather-wise so let’s get right to it.

TODAY

It’s a rainy morning and colder air is on the march. Temperatures will continue to fall today and rain will change to wet snow by midday.

The snow will be largely non-impactful. You may have to brush wet snow off your windshield and decks/patio furniture can get covered but I am not expecting too many issues on paved surfaces as the snow will be falling during the daylight hours into air that is around 32-33 degrees.

Tonight will be quiet with lows in the mid 20s.

CHRISTMAS EVE (DAYLIGHT HOURS)

If you are doing some last-minute traveling or shopping on Sunday, we expect no weather-related issues through the first half of the day. But snow will push back into parts of the Valley during the afternoon. 3pm simulated radar:

At first, the snow won’t be much of a problem on most roads as temperatures will be near or a little above freezing. But after sunset as temperatures drop and the snow becomes more intense, slick conditions will become likely. 9pm:

The snow will continue to fall steadily through about 1-3am, then will taper to flurries/snow showers. A look at the timing of the weather impacts today through Monday morning (clock times at the top of each graphic)

CHRISTMAS DAY

As you can see in the graphic above, the snow will be less problematic by Monday morning and the day as a whole will be cold and quiet with not much more than some morning flurries (“mood snow”!) How much snow will be on the ground Christmas morning? An average of 1-3″ so we are expecting a WHITE CHRISTMAS, officially.

Keep in mind that the bulk of the accumulation will occur before midnight Monday morning. For the actual calendar day December 25th, here’s the list of snowiest Christmases since 1934 in Youngstown: